Deco is Loaded + Stonefields Prep: Overcasting Appliqué Background Blocks

Greetings, my lovelies!   This will be just a quick update to share what I accomplished in the last few days before I head to New Jersey for my mom’s burial service.  No, I don’t have any hand stitching prepped for my trip, but I did get a little prep work done so I’ll have things ready to stitch when I get home.

My Deco quilt is loaded on my long arm machine and my ruler base is on the machine, woot woot!  When I get back to Florida I’ll be ready to start stabilizing this custom quilt project by stitching in the ditch between blocks with my favorite Aurifil Smoke monofilament thread.  This is a big bed quilt, 102” x 102”, and I’m in no rush whatsoever.  Expect to see dribbles of progress over the next few months on this one.

102 x 102 Deco Quilt Loaded on my Bernina Q24 Long Arm Machine

Second accomplishment, I have made some progress on the prep work for my new sampler project, the Stonefields Quilt by Susan Smith!  The pattern instructions told me to cut out forty 6 1/2” background blocks for appliqué.  I ultimately decided to tear my fabric instead of ripping it per the instructions in Jeanne Sullivan’s book, and I tore my squares at a generous 7 1/2” square so I’d be able to trim them with the serger knife when overcasting the raw edges and still have excess to trim after stitching the appliqué.  I think that was a good amount of trimming insurance as the blocks are about 7 1/4” now after the serger knife trimmed the whiskers away.

40 Appliqué Background Blocks for Stonefields Prepped

Did I really need to overcast the edges on these little blocks?  Debatable.  There is definitely a potential for fraying of the raw block edges on larger, more complex blocks that will be handled a lot during hand stitching (like my 19” FrankenWhiggish blocks, still awaiting the final stuffed berries).  These Stonefields blocks are small and relatively simple, so they might have been fine without overcasting.  

A Sauntering Squirrel Swooshed By -- In a Kaffe Fassett Tiered Maxi Skirt

Hello and Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Everyone!  My birthday was May 27th, so I took advantage of Memorial Day sales on top of a birthday coupon from my not-quite-local quilt shop, Sew Much Fun, to buy yards and yards of Kaffe Fassett Collective cotton fabric prints that I plan to transform into long, swooshy skirts with my serger:

Birthday Flowers From My Sister, Kaffe Fassett Fabrics for my Skirts

I'm planning to make one skirt with the purple Japanese Crysanthemum-Antique (yes, this post contains affiliate links) alternated with Spot Plum (the two fabrics on the left), and another skirt from the Japanese Crysanthemum-Scarlet alternated with Zig Zag-Cool.   I'm linking to independent Etsy shops who carry these fabrics for your convenience, but I recommend pairing fabric prints in person at your local quilt shop if at all possible.  I spent a LONG time dragging fabric bolts around the shop (and made a big mess -- sorry!) before I was satisfied with my selections. 

Inspiration:  La DoubleJ Tiered Maxi Skirt, $590 from Nieman Marcus

The Tutorials

This new "squirrel project" first invaded my consciousness when I saw Sharon Madsen's How to Sew a Multi-Tiered Maxi Skirt tutorial on Bernina's We All Sew blog last week.

Sharon Madsen's Skirt for Bernina's We All Sew Tutorial

I love wearing easy, comfortable styles like this for summer, and I am seeing tiered maxi skirts cropping up in all of the high end retail shops this year.  This is definitely an on-trend look for Summer 2022, and it would be a great beginner sewing project if any of you have daughters, granddaughters or other girls in your life who are interested in learning to sew.  

Burda 6911: A Sneaky Formal Pajama Dress for Comfy Choral Concerts

Burda 6911 Dress with Modifications

Not only did I make it through a week of late-night dress rehearsals and fend off a cold well enough to sing in both performances of the Bach St. John's Passion last weekend, but I also managed to sew myself a new dress to wear for the Sunday afternoon concert from a new-to-me pattern, Burda 6911:

Burda 6911 for 2-way Stretch Knits

This pattern popped up in my Pinterest feed around the same time that I was informed that the men in the VOX chorus wear tuxedos in concert, and women are supposed to wear something "black, formal and floor-length, with long sleeves, like something you would wear to a cocktail party." Maybe that's what SOME women wear to a cocktail party, but there was nothing in MY closet that fit that description!

Angelica Huston as Morticia Addams, Ready to Sing with VOX

Here's a photo of the VOX chorus (taken before I joined) so you can see what other women wear:

VOX Chorus Concert Attire, Pre-Rebecca Photo

So I got the pattern, ordered 5 yards of black 11 oz. rayon jersey fabric from Emma One Sock (UPS Next Day Air Saver), and rolled up my sleeves.

I found some well-ripened moss green jersey knit rotting away in my stash that had a similar weight, drape and stretch as my dress fabric, and decided to whip up a top version of this pattern to check the fit and figure out how the twist goes together.  I did read up on other people's experiences sewing this pattern on Pattern Reviews, and I was happy to see that most people's dresses and tops came out looking BETTER than the pattern photos, and that the style was flattering on other women with figures similar to mine.  (ah, how do I love thee, Pattern Review web site?!!!) 

Sizing: Based on the amount of fabric incorporated into the front twist, the width stretch of my fabric, and other reviewers' comments, I decided to cut a size 14 (based on my upper chest measurement +2", or what my FB measurement would be if I was a B cup like the "standard" commercial pattern fit models instead of a D). If I had used my full bust measurement as directed by the pattern instructions, I'd have been cutting between size 16 and size 18 -- I've done that before, and it always results in an unwearable, unfixable garment that is way too big in the upper chest, back, and shoulders, with necklines too big and gaping and sagging armholes.  It's so much easier to do a full/prominent bust adjustment to make more room where it's needed than it is to alter the shoulders, back, upper chest, sleeves, armholes, etc. to make them all smaller!  (This article on the Curvy Sewing Collective blog explains why). 

But in this particular case, with this pattern and this stretchy fabric, the smaller size worked beautifully with no need for any fit adjustments -- I got a fantastic fit through the shoulders and upper chest, no neck gaping or sagging armholes, yet there was plenty of room for "the girls" due to the stretch of the fabric and all of the twist gathers in the front of the top. I did grade to a size 16 through the hips on the top because I didn't want too snug of a fit through the tummy, and I'm glad I did because the top is quite fitted through the midriff. However, the top and dress are made from different pattern pieces, and the dress is cut with a lot more ease through the midriff so I was able to cut a straight size 14 on my dress.  I stopped working on the green top as soon as I was far enough along to know I had a working pattern in a good size, since I only had a few days to get my dress done and I sew VERY SLOWLY, like a sloth.  (Actually, I sew more like Hamlet, stopping every step of the way to ponder my options and research techniques before proceeding.  To be finished with my dress on time, or to squander my sewing time with mad dashes to JoAnn's in search of obscure notions and interfacing that I saw in someone's blog tutorial -- THAT is my question!)  But I digress.  Here's the green top version, 90% finished:

Burda 6911 Top, Trial Run

This is not the best picture because I had a weird balconet style bra on under the top that made the gathers go goofy, but I was in a hurry so this photo will have to do for now.  Anyway, you can see that the fit is pretty good, but if you click on the photo to make it bigger and examine the center front twist, you'll see that the wrong side of the facing wants to roll out at the top of the twist.  I still need to fix that, and then coverstitch hem the bottom of the top and the sleeves.  Eventually.

As per the recommendations of other reviewers, and to make assembly more serger-friendly, I disregarded the pattern instructions and put the sleeves in flat before sewing the side seams. This was a great idea.  On my trial top, I also ignored the pattern instructions about pressing the center front and dart seams open and just serged everything instead, because hey -- I bought the serger so I could use it on knits, and this is a knit, right?However, I think that's why I got the weirdness in the center of the twist with raw edges wanting to stick out on my top, because I had a loose flap where my serger seam stopped and the facing edge began instead of a pressed open seam allowance getting pulled back into the dress when I did the twist. So for my dress, I serged the CF seam as directed by the pattern, until a few inches before the slit, and then sewed the rest of the way with a stretch "lightning" stitch on my regular sewing machine so I could press the seam allowance open just below the slit and have the seam allowance tuck in nicely all the way around the hole. The bust dart seams I stitched the whole way with the lightning stitch and pressed them open per pattern instructions, and I was much happier with the way the twist front came out on the dress when I did it that way.

Peep Hole at Center Twist Prior to Hand Stitching

Oh, and another thing I should mention about the twist front is that you may need to add some additional hand or machine stitching after you pull the one side through the other to make sure you don't have a little peep hole in the middle of your boobage!

Do note that the arms of this pattern are asymmetrical, so you want to be careful keeping track of which is which. Also, as another reviewer noted, the pattern instructs you to baste the facing down to the shirt front before sewing the side seam, so I followed her suggestion to leave the facing edge loose and then wrapped it around when I sewed the shoulder seams for a clean finish. I also added clear elastic to the shoulder seams to prevent them from stretching out of shape.

Other Changes I Made: This pattern is designed to finish just below the knee, but I needed it to be floor length and I'm 5'8" so I added 13" to the skirt length. (This is the first time I used a rotary cutter to cut out a garment, by the way and I am IN LOVE -- the shifty, slippery knit was cut MUCH more accurately, precisely, and easily with the rotary cutter than it would have been with scissors, and after all my cutting table has a butcher block surface intended for chopping food up with knives so the rotary cutting blade isn't going to hurt it and the butcher block won't hurt the blade, either.  No cutting mat necessary!)

Length Added at the Lengthen/Shorten Line, seam Lines Extended for More Fullness at the Bottom

I also added shirred self-fabric sashes at the waist, copied from a RTW Boden dress in my closet.

RTW Boden Anna Dress, From Which I Copied the Sash

I think the sash belt helps prevent it from looking like a nightgown, and stretch fabric plus sash means that I will be able to wear this dress comfortably even if I gain or lose a few pounds.

My Dress With Cloned Boden Sashes Sewn Into Side Seams

I also made a slight change to the shaped of the neckline at the shoulder seam. This was due to a mistake when I did a FOE on the back neck (instead of the goofy strip of fabric sewn on and folded over as the pattern instructs and as I did on my practice top), but I accidentally ate up some of the shoulder seams in my neck edges.  I compensated for that by slightly gathering front shoulders to fit the back, which gives just the slightest sweetheart curve to the top of the V-neck.  Not sure whether you can see that in the photos, but I can definitely tell the difference in the shaping  of the neckline from my top to my dress and I actually prefer the way my fixed mistake looks!

Fold Over Coverstitched Edge on Back Neck

Finally, although this pattern specifically recommends lightweight jersey knit, the hem allowances for both the bottom of the skirt and the sleeves is 1 1/4" deep. None of the RTW jersey knit dresses or tops in my closet has a hem this deep. I tried doing the deep hem with a coverstitch on my dress, and I got decent results on my rectangular sample swatch, but the dress is A-line so the circumference of the skirt is greater at the raw edge than it is at the stitching line. ROYAL pain in the butt and waste of time. I did my sleeve hems 1/2" due to where I wanted the length to hit, and it was so much easier and ended up looking much better, too. I've decided I want my dress to be a few inches shorter because the heavy jersey makes it longer when I put it on than it was on my cutting table, and when I redo the hem I'll just turn it up 1/2" and coverstitch it.

A few words about figure flattery: ...And, just when I think I'm done with this post, I think of something else to say.  While I'm really happy with this dress for me, I do want to point out that someone with either a very small or very large bust might not be happy with it.  Although the twist front makes it easier to fit a large bust, the style of the dress makes a larger bust appear even bigger, especially when you view the dress from the front:

This Dress Will Make Your Boobs Look Bigger...

See what I mean?  It helps that the dress is black because black is slimming, but all those wrinkle lines from the twist front extending from shoulder to waist can create the illusion that your boobage is more ample than it really is.  As you can see in the side view, I'm not really as big up top as this dress makes me appear:

See?  Dolly Parton from the Front, Normal Boobs from the Side

So if you're self-conscious about a large bust and that's something you want to play down, this style might not be for you.  I have an hourglass figure and my full hip measurement is a little larger than my full bust, but I think this dress makes me look a little top heavy, but it's also very slimming from the waist down.  Conversely, if you have a very small bust, you might not like this dress either.  Even in the lightweight rayon jersey that I used, the twist front creates a bulky lump in the center of the chest that might look like a third boob, or stick out farther than your boobs, if you're an A or AA cup.  On a medium to large bust, the bulky twist lies between your boobs in the cleavage zone so it isn't a problem.  I have an hourglass figure and my full hip measurement is larger than my full bust, but I think this dress makes me look a little top heavy.  Your mileage may vary.

A few more notes to myself for next time I'm sewing with rayon jersey:

The sleeve had to be basted before it was serged into the armhole, and the shoulder seam needed to be basted before it was serged, too.  I basted the side seams of the dress just inside the stitching line using a 3.5 straight stitch on my regular machine so I could check the fit prior to serging, and to keep those heavy, slippery layers aligned as they went through the serger.  I did need to pin this fabric if it wasn't already basted before it came to the serger, like so:

Serged Seams, 4-thread Overlock

The rayon jersey is heavy, so it was important not to let it hang off the sewing cabinet or pull away from the needle as I was sewing.  I used size 80 Jersey Stretch needles in my regular sewing machine, serger, and coverstitch machine, and regular Maxilock and YLI Elite serger thread in a 4-thread overlock stitch.  Next time I might go down to a size 70 Jersey needle and try wooly nylon in the loopers. 

Serger Tension Settings

On my Bernina 1300MDC serger, I got a nice, balanced overlock stitch that laid flat without rippling with tensions set as you see in the photo above, presser foot pressure reduced to low, a stitch length of 2.5, and Differential Feed set between 1.5-2.

Stitch Length and Differential Feed

On my Bernina 750QE sewing machine, I used my 5.5 mm stitch plate to prevent the jersey from getting pulled down through the needle hole into the hook area.  I reduced my presser foot pressure from 50 down to 30 and used polyester Metrosene thread, a Jersey needle, and either a long straight stitch for basting or the lightning stretch stitch where I wanted to machine stitch closer to the twist to close that boob hole. 

On my new Juki MCS-1500 coverstitch machine, I did a narrow 3-thread coverstitch hem using the left and center needle positions, again with Jersey needles, and reduced the looper tension to L, reduced the pressure foot pressure to L, left both needle tensions set at 4, stitch length 2.5, and differential feed set to 2.0.  I experimented with a couple different methods of turning up the hem before coverstitching, but I got the best results when I cut 1/2" wide strips of black tricot knit fusible interfacing, ironed them along the raw garment edges, and then turned the edge back a half inch to coverstitch.  The deeper hems suggested by the pattern instructions are a royal PITA and the narrower hem is both easier and looks much better anyway.  The tricot interfacing makes it easy to turn up a consistent hem without marking, but more importantly, it stabilizes the knit so it doesn't tunnel between the rows of stitching.

I am super excited about this pattern now that my dress is finished. It gives me a great fit without any FBA or PBA, it went together relatively quickly once I figured out the twist thing, the neckline is flattering and not too revealing because it really does stay put -- and best of all, the dress is so unbelievably comfortable that it was like I snuck into the concert wearing my pajamas!!!  Definitely a keeper!  I'm planning to make a just-below-the-knee version of this dress in red and/or a print, something I can wear more often than the concert dress.

Lessons Learned: RTW Blouse Alteration Fail, and Didn't Know My Serger Could Do That!

Cotton Poplin Blouse from White House Black Market

Having a khaki and white dress code for church choir this Sunday and plenty of khaki beigish skirts, but no white tops in my closet, I went Emergency Shopping on Saturday afternoon with my mom.  She convinced me to buy this size 14 blouse from White House Black Market because, with all the princess seams, she thought we could get a really good fit for me with way less work than sewing a tailored blouse from scratch.  I  wish I had taken a picture of this RTW (ready-to-wear, a.k.a. "store-bought") blouse BEFORE we started messing with it, because this top was so big on me that I thought it was SUPPOSED to be an oversized fit.  I was shocked when I went to the store web site just now for this image and saw how fitted the blouse is on the model.  I do not LIKE this blouse!  This is an important point that we will come back to.  So, anyway.

We were in a rush when we got back to my studio with the blouse, so my mom put the blouse on Headless Helena (my customized dress form) and started pinning in the blouse at the three princess seams on the back.  Meanwhile, I was getting my machine set up with the right needle, thread, presser foot, etc.  When mom showed me the blouse-in-progress on the dress form, it looked like a maternity blouse to me because it was more fitted in the back and bust but flared out below the bust and through the tummy...  So I asked if the front could come in a bit just under the bust.  Then I started struggling to get a balanced 3-thread overlock stitch on my serger while Mom started taking in the seams she'd pinned on the other machine.  Anyone noticing the red flags yet?  I did NOT try on the blouse before Mom started taking in the seams.

And there were mishaps.  I had cleaned and oiled the sewing machine, but apparently got a little too much oil somewhere because the first stitches on the blouse came out oily beige instead of white thread.  Sewed on scraps until the thread was clean and continued on.  The serger was making me crazy, the Bernina 1300 MDC serger that I have owned and loved for 10 years, and I couldn't get a balanced 3-thread narrow overlock to save my soul.  My serger manual recommended setting the needle and both looper tensions at 4.0, and my stitch looked REALLY, DRASTICALLY wrong at that setting, and minor adjustments weren't doing any good.  But the RTW blouse had a narrow 3-thread overlock finishing all of the princess seam allowances, and this being an expensive blouse, I wanted it to look just as good inside and out AFTER alteration as it did before.  Anyway, it was getting late and Mom had to go, so she left the blouse for me to trim and overcast the seam allowances and close the hem again at the back of the shirt.

I took a break for dinner, came back up, changed needles, rethreaded about 15 times.  Started wondering whether I had ever actually USED a 3-thread overlock stitch on the machine in all the time that I've owned it -- maybe there's something screwy with my machine and it just can't MAKE this stitch?!  And then finally, at about 10:30 PM, I got a lovely 3-thread overlock stitch on my serger with these crazy settings:

My Serger's Weird Settings for 3-thread Overlock

Can you believe it?  I've never had to make such drastic adjustments for a 4-thread overlock, or a 2-thread overlock, or for any other stitch.  For some reason, I had to jack the needle tension all the way up to 6.0 and reduce the upper looper tension to 3.0.  So I wrote these settings on my sample and shoved it in the drawer with a hundred other samples that I hang onto for reference.  And then, totally by accident in my button-pushing, I discovered something wild about my serger. 

The Bernina 1300 MDC serger is not computerized, but it does have a little electronic screen where you can scroll through all the different serger stitches and see the suggested settings for each stitch.  You can totally ignore this screen, because it doesn't automatically change any tensions or settings.  However, whatever stitch is showing on the screen when you turn the machine off, that's the stitch that will show on the machine the next time you turn the machine on.  So in the past, I have scrolled to whatever stitch I was doing and used this feature as a reminder of what the machine is set up to do currently when I turn it on again 6 months later.  If I know I used the machine for a 2-thread overlock last time, then I know I have to take off that little looper converter bypass cap thingy before I can do a 4-thread overlock, for instance. 

But I have just finally realized that I can EDIT the settings shown for each stitch on that screen, and the changes will be SAVED!  Eureka!!

Crazy Tension Settings Saved for Next Time

See?  It used to say 4.0, 4.0, and 4.0 for this stitch.  I remember in my serger mastery class so long ago that the instructor said these recommended settings are just a starting point, that each machine would be a little different even when they are the same make and model.  She had us write down in our workbooks what OUR machine's settings were for a few of the different stitches, but she did NOT show me that I could actually save that information in the machine itself.  I know there is a big button marked "EDIT" on the front of the machine, but when I pressed it in the past and nothing happened, I forgot about it.  You have to press Edit, then the button on the left marked CHANGE, then the right or left numbers to increase or decrease to the right number, and then to save it you have to push the bottom button marked SET.  I know this sounds obvious now, but I feel like I discovered a new continent or something.

Back to the blouse.  So, at 11 PM I finish with serging off the excess seam allowances from the altered princess seams, and restitching the back of the shirttail hem (poorly, by the way -- I could not get it nice and smooth like it was before).  And I try the blouse on, for the first time since I tried on an enormous oversized blouse in the store that fit like a smock.  And I am astounded and displeased to discover that the blouse is now VERY FITTED through the tummy and upper hip/tushy area.

Blouse Altered: Size 14 Shoulders and Bust, Size Snug at the Bottom

Ugh.  I was so not loving this.  Very matronly, I think, and it looked like a uniform to me, too -- like I should have a name tag pinned to my chest.  Not at all what I wanted, or what I was expecting.  There were other issues -- a hump in the upper back.  The seams needed to be taken in all the way from top to bottom, since I am not a hunch back. 

Side View Showing Upper Back Pouf

This upper back poufiness gets worse as I move around in the blouse, because the overfitted derriere rides up, like so:

The Hunchback of Charlotte, North Carolina

But at this point, I called it a fail.  Not worth spending more time trying to get this blouse to fit perfectly, now that I know that it is just not my style or not flattering on me or whatever.  I'm not going to wear it anyway.  I am NOT COMFORTABLE in tight-fitting clothes, period.  I don't like that I can see my belly button through the blouse, I'll bet it gets even tighter after I wash it the first time, even if it was cold water.  And that bright white cotton fabric would get stained and ruined the first time I made a cup of coffee (which is probably why I didn't have any white tops in my closet to begin with!),  Even the little sleeve cuffs, that seemed so cute in the store, are even annoying me now, reminding me of a '50s diner waitress outfit. 

Diner Waitress Cuffs

If I button the blouse all the way up, I look like a linebacker -- too broad across the chest and shoulders.  If I unbutton the top couple of buttons for more of a V-neck effect, I look like a diner waitress.  I am getting flashbacks of this teal waitress uniform that I wore in high school when I worked at the Burger Hop after school:

Burger Hop Uniform, Suspiciously Similar to WHBM Blouse

Just looking at this, I am flooded with memories of mopping floors, refilling ketchup bottles and rolling napkins late at night, and coming home smelling like greasy French fries.  Bottom line?  I just don't like the style of this blouse.  If I had seen that picture of the blouse on the model, and known how fitted it was supposed to be, I would never have bought it in the first place. 

So, what have I learned, besides how to achieve a balanced 3-thread overlock on my serger?  I have learned -- hopefully! -- to STOP BUYING THINGS THAT DON'T FIT ME.  And I have learned that, although the dress form is handy, I should have known better than to start sewing without tryin the blouse on my own body to see if I liked the way it was fitting.  My mom was right about the princess seams giving lots of opportunity for fitting adjustments, but really, this blouse was never going to be perfect on me.  The reason it's giving me hunch back is that it's still size 14 in the upper back/  If I want a tailored blouse that fits me, I'm going to have to make one myself using a smaller size pattern that fits me in the upper chest, shoulders and upper back, and doing a full bust adjustment to make extra room only where I need it.

I should have made a quilt block instead.

50 Hours In, and Here's What I've Got to Show For Myself

Bodice Nearly Finished and a Hat Plan

As you can see, I managed to get the bodice nearly finished yesterday with collar facing and sleeves attached, and the lower edge of the bodice finished with bias tape turned to the inside and stitched down by hand.  There is a lot of "by hand" in this project, as I'm discovering...  In case you're just now tuning in, I'm making a Christmas caroling dress using Simplicity 1818 and I need to wear it on December 3rd.

Double Fold Bias Tape Pinned to Bodice Front, Ready for Machine Stitching

Sewing in the sleeves was weird.  I'm used to sewing things that are pretty flat -- quilts and draperies.  Sewing a tube inside a hole was just all kinds of uncomfortable!  I used my free arm and, so I could concentrate on sewing a seam without puckers rather than watching my seam allowance, I used my little cloth guide attachment that came with my #97D patchwork foot.  I am also not used to what a 5/8" seam looks like, since I use 1/2" seams for home dec and 1/4" for quilts.

Setting the Sleeves

I am finishing every raw edge on this dress with a serger narrow 2-thread overlock, by the way, overlocking the seam allowances separately after sewing each seam.  My silk fabric frays so badly that it's practically disintegrating before my eyes as I sew.  How do I love my serger?  Oh, let me count the ways...


Once we got the bodice pretty much together (it still needs buttonholes and buttons sewn on), I decided to switch gears and make the ruffled trim from my black silk shantung.  For one thing, my pattern instructs me to finish the bodice with trim and all before starting in on the skirt.  I was also half afraid that, if I didn't have the ruffles already made and ready to go by the time I was ready to stitch them on, I might be tempted to skip them.



Simplicity 1818

I wasted a lot of time yesterday experimenting with how I was going to make my ruffles.  I had already decided that I didn't like the look of the wide ruffles shown in the pattern photo. 




February 1863 Peterson's Magazine

See how the period fashion plate illustration that inspired the pattern has five rows of narrow, flat ruffles or fringe rather than three wide, frilly ruffles like in the pattern photo?  I'd rather have more rows of narrower, flatter ruffles on my dress, and I wanted nothing to do with the convoluted method of sewing rectangles into tubes, drawing lines on the tube, THEN cutting my ruffle strips.  So I cut my ruffle strips the way any self respecting quilter would do it, using my rotary cutter and acrylic quilting rulers.  I don't even know how long my strips are -- I just folded my fabric up selvedges together and cut my 2 7/8 yards into 2 3/4" wide strips until I ran out of fabric, leaving just enough to cover the buttons for the bodice closures. 

Of course the black silk shantung fabric ravels and frays just as badly as the green silk shantung, so after cutting and seaming my strips into one ridiculously long strip, we starched it crisply with heavy spray starch and then I attempted to follow the pattern instructions, finishing the L-O-N-G edges with a "narrow double hem."  Well, first I tried the 4 mm narrow hem foot on my Bernina 750 QE, and didn't like the results.  Too wide, and too fussy getting the edge to roll properly.  Next I tried the 2 mm narrow hem foot on my 1935 Singer Featherweight sewing machine, and it was lovely... but I still had to sew fairly slowly to ensure the fabric was rolling around the metal coil properly, and I despaired of ever finishing the ruffle that way.  What's more, the edges of the long black ruffle snake were beginning to ravel as I handled the strip, and I worried that I would run into serious trouble trying to roll a severely frayed piece of silk by the time I was halfway through hemming the edges.



Silk Shantung Ruffle Strips, Raveling Already

So, SERGER TO THE RESCUE!  I know it's not "period correct," but I was able to get an attractive 3-thread rolled hem on the edges of my ruffle with only minor hiccups along the way, and I was able to serge with the pedal to the metal.  How long did it take me to hem both edges of my ruffle strip?  It took me four hours.  FOUR.  HOURS.  Four hours of running my serger continuously at full speed.  One cone of serger thread (YLI Elite) completely used up by the upper looper, too.  I have no idea how long this strip is, either -- I don't want to know yet.  Don't want to get discouraged.  But I am not going to gather it.  I experimented with the Bernina ruffler foot as well as my vintage Singer ruffler foot on the Featherweight and decided that I just don't like the look of a gathered ruffle for this dress.  I'm going to do a 3/4" triple fullness knife pleat ruffle instead, like the "plaited frills" on many of the mid-Victorian dresses on my Pinterest board. 

Circa 1862, Met Museum

That looks like a box pleat ruffle, don't you think? 

I just hope I have a long enough fabric strip to go around the bottom of my enormously full skirt a few times.  My pattern called for 5" cut width ruffles, but if my math is correct they were only supposed to be about 1.6 times fullness.  I need to put my pleated ruffle trim around both sleeve edges as well as several rings around my skirt hem, and I really don't want to have to buy more black silk and then spend another ENTIRE DAY making more ruffle trim!  I still have to pleat this stuff, too!

3-Thread Rolled Hem on Edges of Silk Shantung

Isn't it lovely, though?

Black Silk Ruffle Strip for Dress, Green Silk Ruffle Strip for Hat Trim

I was testing my serger settings on strips of leftover green dress fabric, and decided that I kind of liked the look of the black edging on the green silk.  So while I still had the serger set for a rolled hem, I made some green silk ribbon strips edged in black thread.  I'll use them to decorate the plain black costume bonnet that I bought on Amazon, because clearly there will NOT be time to make a special bonnet from scratch!

This dress still needs:

1. Buttonholes and buttons sewn on the bodice

2. A skirt (panels are cut and silk shantung fashion fabric has been hand-basted to the silk organza underlining -- Mom did that while I was making ruffles today)

3. Ruffles need to be pleated and stitched by machine

4. Ruffle trim, purchased gimp trim, and bows all need to be stitched to the dress.  (The trim definitely needs to be stitched to the bodice by hand...  But I wonder whether I could possibly get away with stitching my pleated ruffle to the skirt by machine?)

5. White blouse "undersleeves", not even cut out yet

6. Some kind of fichu or chemisette (per the pattern) to fill in the neckline of the dress

7. Decorate the ugly black cheapo bonnet

8. Still need to make a fabric cover for my music binder

9. I need to make a little drawstring purse ("reticule") for my keys, chapstick, etc.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I've already got close to 50 hours into the making of this dress.  I REALLY hope it's more than halfway done!

I'm linking up with Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts, Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt, and Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.



Of Fractured Bones and Other Annoying Quilting Delays... And PROGRESS!!

Greetings from the Land of Humpty-Dumpty, in which Rebecca goes for a bike ride, has a great fall, and is still waiting for all the King's horses and all the King's men to put her bones back together again.    This happened exactly three weeks ago today, and in addition to the broken and displaced right clavicle bone that has disabled my right arm, I also broke my left thumb and smacked my head hard enough to crack my bike helmet and give myself a mild concussion.  So I have not been sewing for the past couple of weeks.  Or brushing my own teeth, dressing or showering myself...  But not sewing stinks the most, especially when my cousin's baby is coming any day and the quilt is SO CLOSE TO BEING FINISHED!  (Also, it is a surprise, so if you know my cousin, DON'T SPOIL IT).

The Unhappiness That Is My Collar Bone

I'm getting my collar bone screwed back together again surgically on Wednesday, but over the past week I've been sneaking up to my sewing room to work on my Amish Baby 54-40 or Fight quilt.  With one arm in a sling and a thumb splint on the other hand, I'm not making great strides or anything -- I can get in about 15-20 minutes before the shoulder pain is unbearable, but every little bit gets me closer to the finish line!  A little bit of sewing is better than NO sewing.

In this post, I wanted to document some of the things that have worked for me in the final stages of this project so I can refer back to it in the future and save myself some trial-and-error:

Marking Stars for Free Motion Quilting

To mark the stars for free-motion quilting on the blue fabric squares, Don Linn's hooped tulle and Sharpie method wouldn't work because I couldn't see the faint black line against the blue fabric.  So I cut out an exact template of the star shape from a junk mail postcard, cutting just INSIDE the marked line, and used a Clover white marking pen to carefully trace the stars onto the blue squares.  The white pen works great on dark fabrics.

"Wave Stitch" Controls Fullness in Unquilted Border Perimeter

Once I had completed that last bit of quilting, I still had 2" of my teal border unquilted because that's the width of the satin binding that I'm planning to use.  I saw that the quilting stitches had drawn up the body of the quilt so that there was a faint ripple to the unquilted outer edge, and I did NOT want a ripply-edged quilt looking like I don't know how to measure for borders properly.  I considered stippling the border to flatten it out, but decided that I wanted to retain some of the loft and puffiness inside the satin binding.  So I scrolled through the decorative stitches programmed into my Bernina 750QE sewing machine and selected one that looks kind of like a wave stitch, and stitched that around the perimeter of the quilt just inside the raw edge using my walking foot.  It did the trick of shrinking the outer edge just enough without flattening out the loft that I wanted to keep.  Also, I think it makes kind of a fun quilting stitch, don't you?  I'll have to remember that one for another quilt -- it would be a great alternative to just straight line quilting.
My next trick when I am doing a Minky-backed quilt with satin binding is to enlist my serger to trim and clean up the edges of the quilt before binding.  That wave stitch also enabled me to remove the remaining safety pins from the quilt before they went anywhere near the serger blades... 


Two Thread, Left Needle Serger Overlock Before Binding

Why didn't I just trim the excess batting and backing fabric and get on with binding my quilt?  Well, Minky is an unruly pain in the butt whose edges like to curl up and shed all over the place.  I didn't want to deal with that when I was trying to attach the slippery satin binding.  A serged edge is much, MUCH more stable and easier to work with.  Moreover, when you see a well-loved tattered blanket, the satin binding usually shreds and disintegrates long before the rest of the blanket, and it is easy enough to give new life to a cherished blankie by replacing the satin binding.  My overcast quilt edges will be protected from fraying when the satin binding wears out, and will make it easier for whoever gets the job of replacing the satin binding.

One big, HUGE thing to remember as you're setting up your serger is that MINKY STRETCHES, but ONLY IN ONE DIRECTION.  It's important to test your stitch settings across both the lengthwise AND the crosswise grains before you start in on your quilt.  Otherwise the stitch that looked great on your sample might get wavy on the two sides of the quilt where the Minky wants to stretch on you. 

Test Your Stitch Settings on the Lengthwise AND Crosswise Grains!

On my Bernina 1300MDC serger I got a nice, wave free edge with differential feed set to 1.5, stitch length 3.5, cutting width 2.0, and the tension settings recommended in my user manual.  I used a size 80/12 Universal needle and YLI Elite serger thread.
Here's one more serger trick that I always forget when I'm trimming away the excess batting and backing fabrics as I overcast the edge of the quilt.  Just before reaching the corner, I cut away a couple of inched of the excess fabrics on the side I'm about to stitch with a scissor.  Then I can serge right to the edge of the corner, sink my needle just off the edge and raise it to the highest position, pull the work backwards to clear the stitch finger, and then turn the quilt to begin stitching the next side of the quilt right at the corner where I left off.  I always mess up the first corner before I remember the scissor trick.  If you forget, you try to turn the corner but the bulk of the untrimmed batting and backing is in your way so you can't get the quilt back under the presser foot far enough.

Approaching the Corner, Next Side Scissor Cut 2-3"

So the whole time I'm quilting my blue stars, stabilizing and overcasting these quilt borders, I'm stewing about the satin binding.  I have made a number of these Minky backed, satin binding baby quilts in the past, and the only reason I subject myself to the hassle of it all is that babies LOVE satin binding.  If you give a baby a blanket with satin binding, he will reward you by rubbing the satin binding on his nose while sucking his thumb and making sweet little baby gurgling noises.  So it has to be satin binding.  But it is nearly impossible to get the inside edge of that satin binding lined up perfectly on the front AND back side of the quilt.  Anywhere the edges are NOT perfectly aligned when you stitch the zigzag from the front of the quilt, you will get something that looks like this:

Stitched Right Side Up, so the Front Looks Good...

...But the Back Is Not So Hot!

Very annoying!!  So I had an idea of what I could do to get better results this time.  I decided to stitch a placement line for the inside edge of the satin binding using YLI Water Soluble Basting Thread in both the needle and the bobbin.  I'm going to use that stitching line to either glue baste or pin (haven't decided which) the satin binding in place prior to stitching.  In hindsight, I should have stitched that line before I quilted my curlique olives in the border, since I drew a chalk line there anyway to make sure my quilting design remained outside of the area to be covered by satin binding.

Water Soluble Thread Placement Line for Satin Binding

Water soluble thread is very cool because it just dissolves and washes away when your project is rinsed or laundered, but it is more fragile than ordinary sewing thread and it requires special care.  It is very important to store water soluble thread in the airtight ziplock bags it comes in, and handle it with very dry hands so you don't get it sticky.  It's probably also a good idea to store your bobbin thread right in the baggie with the spool of water soluble thread, clearly labeled.  It would be very sad to get caught in the rain in a dress you accidentally constructed using water soluble thread... 

Settings for Water Soluble Thread

I sew successfully with YLI Wash-Away Water Soluble Thread on my Bernina 750QE sewing machine using Straight Stitch #1, but I increased the stitch length to 3.50 and reduced the tension all the way down to 1.0.  I also reduced the speed considerably when winding the bobbin, and because I'm working on a 3-layer quilt, I used my walking foot.

I've decided on a triple-stitched zigzag stitch to secure the satin binding to my quilt.  I'll be using Mettler Poly Sheen thread for that, for reasons of strength, matching the color and the sheen of the satin binding, and because both the satin binding and the Minky backing fabrics are polyester.  I'm using a brand new size 80/12 Microtex Sharp needle to stitch the satin binding without any snagging or pulls (which are also possible pitfalls of pinning, which is why I'm considering gluing the binding in place).

Broken Thumb with Splint

But none of this is happening right now, because my thumb is sore and my shoulder hurts from all of this typing!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  I'm linking up with Esther's WIPs on Wednesday linky and Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.